Genesis 40 - Joseph Interprets Dreams in Prison

A. Joseph meets the butler and the baker in prison.

1. (1-4) The Egyptian royal butler
and baker are put into prison.

It came to pass after these things that the butler and the
baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. And Pharaoh
was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. So he
put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison,
the place where Joseph was confined. And the captain of the guard charged
Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

a. The
butler and the baker of the king of Egypt: The butler was in charge of Pharaoh’s wine and the baker was in charge of Pharaoh’s food. They
were imprisoned because they offended their lord,
the king of Egypt. It is difficult to tell if it was in a minor or a
major way. Considering how the account will develop, it is probable there was a
plot to murder the Pharaoh (perhaps by poisoning).

i. But we never lose sight of the
over-arching reason: whatever external reason they were sent to prison, in
God’s great plan they were really there to meet Joseph.

b. The
captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them:
This favorable treatment of Joseph by the captain
of the guard shows that Potiphar did not really believe the
accusations his wife made against Joseph. We know this because Potiphar himself
was the captain of the guard (Genesis
39:1).

c. And
he served them: Though Joseph had a position of high authority in
the prison he did not use it to make others serve him. He used his high
position to serve others.

2. (5-7) Joseph shows concern for
the butler and baker.

Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were
confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one
night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation. And Joseph came in to
them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. So he asked
Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house,
saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

a. Joseph
came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad:
This is a window into the heart of Joseph. Men who are consumed with anger and
bitterness do not often take a concern for the personal problems of others like
this.

b. Why
do you look so sad today? It would be easy - perhaps technically
true - for Joseph to think that because of all the wrong done against him, everything
should center on his own feelings and hurts. Instead, he cared that the butler
and the baker looked so sad one day.

i. This is one of the keys to
living like Jesus: being an others-centered person. Joseph could have justified
certain self-centeredness in his life (“I have to take care of myself right
now”), but he did not.

3. (8) Joseph invites them to tell
him their disturbing dreams.

And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there
is no interpreter of it.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations
belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

a. Tell
them to me, please: This was not a case of mere discussion of dreams
for the sake of curiosity or a form of fortune telling. Joseph saw these men
were clearly disturbed by their dreams, and approached the dreams from a desire
to speak to their troubled souls.

b. Do
not interpretations belong to God? Joseph had experience with
dreams. His two dreams about his future greatness antagonized his family
(Genesis 37:5-11), and he was mocked as the dreamer (Genesis 37:19-20).

i. Joseph was confident that God knew what the dream was about. He was like
the one boy who told another, “My father and I know everything.” When the other
boy asked a hard question, the boy just said, “That’s one for my dad.” Joseph
knew he and his Father together knew everything.

c. Do
not interpretations belong to God? God may certainly speak through
dreams and many passages of Scripture show this (Genesis 20:3; 28:12; 31:11;
31:24; Numbers 12:6; 1 Samuel 28:6; Joel 2:28; Matthew 1:20; 2:13; 2:22).
However, not every dream is a revelation from God. We must be careful about
putting too much weight on dreams.

i. Dreams can come just because
our minds are busy: A dream comes through much activity…For in the
multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. (Ecclesiastes 5:3,
5:7)

ii. The Bible warns that false
prophets might use dreams to give weight to their message (Deuteronomy 13:1-5,
Jeremiah 23:25-28).

B. Joseph interprets their dreams.

1. (9-11) The butler explains his
dream.

Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to
him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three
branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters
brought forth ripe grapes. Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the
grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s
hand.”

a. In
my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches:
Though this dream was from God, God used figures and pictures that made sense
to the butler (a vine, grapes, and serving the Pharaoh wine).

b. Pharaoh’s
cup was in my hand: In his dream, the butler saw himself serve the
Pharaoh again, restored to his former position.

2. (12-15) Joseph interprets the
butler’s dream and asks a favor.

And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it:
The three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up
your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his
hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. But remember me
when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to
Pharaoh, and get me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away from the
land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me
into the dungeon.”

a. The
three branches are three days. Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your
head and restore you to your place: There were aspects to this dream
that could not have been guessed, such as the three branches representing three
days. Joseph’s interpretation of this dream came from God, not from his own
wisdom.

i. Joseph was bold enough to give
an interpretation that could be proved right or wrong within three days. In only three days, everyone
knew if Joseph was correct or not.

b. Remember
me when it is well with you: Joseph asked the butler to work for his
release. Though Joseph showed godly character in the Egyptian prison by not
becoming angry and bitter in his heart, he wasn’t stupid either. He wanted to
get out, and used appropriate means to do so.

i. Joseph could have had
fatalistic faith saying, “Well, if the Lord
wants me out of prison, He will do it, and I won’t have to do anything.” It is
true that Joseph would not get out of prison until the Lord wanted it, but none of that said that Joseph should not
take wise and good steps to accomplish what he thought to be God’s will. In any
regard, the butler would not remember until God wanted him to remember.
Joseph’s action did not take the matter out from God’s supervision and
guidance.

3. (16-19) The baker tells his
dream and Joseph interprets it.

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good,
he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets
on my head. In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh,
and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” So Joseph answered and
said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.
Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a
tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

a. When
the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good: The baker was
encouraged that his companion had a good interpretation of his dream, and hoped
for the same regarding his own dream.

b. Within
three days Pharaoh will lift off your head from you and hang you on a tree:
Joseph was just as faithful to deliver the message of judgment, as he was to
deliver the message of deliverance. This is the mark of a godly messenger, who
does not fail to bring the whole message of God.

i. “How many there are who are
willing to preach the cupbearer’s sermon but are unwilling to preach the
baker’s sermon!” (Boice)

c. The
birds will eat your flesh from you: This was a disgraceful way to
die, but Joseph must have understood that the fate of the butler and the baker
was each according to justice. Whatever crimes they were suspected of, the
butler was innocent but the baker was guilty.

4. (20-23) The dreams come to pass
exactly according to Joseph’s interpretations.

Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh’s
birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head
of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. Then he restored
the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s
hand. But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. Yet the
chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

a. Now
it came to pass on the third day: The three days until Joseph was
proved right must have been agonizing for the butler and the baker (though more
so for the baker), yet Joseph was found to be a true messenger of God.

b. Yet
the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him: Here
Joseph was wronged again. He thought that butler’s kindness might mean his
release from prison, but it was not to be. God had another purpose.

i. All men God uses greatly, He
first prepares greatly. Few are willing to endure the greatness of God’s
preparation. God orders both our steps and stops.